NZ Rent Increase Notice: 60-Day Template and Checklist [2026]

About this guide: I have issued rent increase notices for my own NZ properties several times. This covers what the law actually requires - not the common misconceptions - based on reading section 24 directly and correcting a mistake that was even baked into this software until April 2026.

This guide walks through exactly what section 24 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 requires, what the 2024 Amendment Act did and did not change, and the practical checklist for issuing a compliant rent increase notice that will stand up at the Tenancy Tribunal.

What section 24 actually says

Section 24(1) of the RTA 1986 (as in force 1 December 2025) sets out three conditions that must all be met for a rent increase to take effect:

1. The landlord must give the tenant written notice of the increase.
2. The notice must specify the new rent amount and the date the new rent becomes payable.
3. The date the new rent becomes payable must be not less than 60 days after the date the notice is given (not less than 28 days for a boarding house tenancy).

Section 24(1A) adds the frequency limit: rent must not be increased within 12 months of the date the tenancy commenced, and not within 12 months of the date the last rent increase took effect. That was added by the RTA Amendment Act 2020 and is unchanged by the 2024 Amendment Act.

There is no cap on the percentage increase. The Tenancy Tribunal has a narrow power under section 25 to reduce an increase if it is "substantially above market rent", but in practice this is almost never used and requires strong comparable evidence.

Why so many people believe it is 90 days

There are three sources of confusion:

1. The 2024 Amendment Act reinstated no-cause termination of periodic tenancies with 90 days notice. This is a real change (effective 30 January 2025), but it applies to ending a tenancy, not to raising the rent. The two rules often get mixed up in online landlord forums and agency marketing.
2. Pre-2020 legacy guidance. Before February 2021 the landlord's no-cause termination notice was also 90 days. Older articles and templates that reference "90 days" are often talking about that.
3. Software and templates that were built incorrectly. I am partly to blame for this. RentManager NZ itself had the 90-day figure baked in until we caught it in April 2026 and corrected it back to 60 days. If you are using a NZ rental letter template that says "90 days rent increase notice", assume it is wrong and check section 24 directly.

What the 2024 Amendment Act actually changed

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2024 (most provisions effective 30 January 2025) made these substantive changes to residential tenancies:

• Reinstated 90-day no-cause termination of a periodic tenancy by the landlord.
• Reduced 90-day termination notices to 42 days for specific reasons: owner or family member moving in, unconditional sale with vacant possession, employee housing.
• Reintroduced 14-day termination notices for persistent anti-social behaviour and rent arrears (with Tribunal order).
• Introduced pet bonds of up to 2 weeks rent (effective 1 December 2025), one at a time, with the landlord's prior written consent unless the dog is a disability assist dog.
• Lifted the ban on fixed-term-to-periodic auto-conversion clauses, allowing fixed-term tenancies to end on the agreed date again.

Section 24 (rent increases) is not in that list. The 60-day notice period and once-per-12-months rule are unchanged.

How to give a valid notice (the checklist)

A rent increase notice must be in writing. A text message counts (it is written), but email with a date stamp is better. A verbal discussion does not count.

The notice must include:

• The property address
• The current rent (so the tenant can verify the increase amount)
• The new rent amount
• The date the new rent becomes payable
• A statement that this is at least 60 days from the date of the notice

Tenancy Services provides a free template on their rent increases page. You can write your own letter instead - there is no prescribed form in the Act.

Counting the 60 days correctly

The 60-day period runs from the date the tenant receives the notice, not the date you write it. This is where most invalid notices fall down.

Practical approach: email or hand-deliver the notice (both are instant), and count 60 calendar days from that date. The new rent takes effect on day 61 or later.

Example: deliver notice on 15 April. Earliest the increase can take effect is 14 June. If rent is due on the first of each month, the first payment at the new rate is 1 July.

If you post the notice, section 136 of the RTA deems it delivered 7 working days after posting (within NZ). Add those 7 working days to your count.

The 12-month restriction

You cannot give a new rent increase notice if the tenant's rent was increased within the last 12 months. The clock runs from the date the last increase took effect, not from when the previous notice was given.

Practical example: last rent increase took effect on 1 March 2025. You cannot give a new notice until 1 March 2026 at the earliest, and the new rent cannot take effect until 60 days after that - so the practical earliest is around 1 May 2026, roughly 14 months after the last increase.

Fixed-term tenancies

Rent cannot be increased during a fixed-term tenancy unless either:

• the agreement includes a specific rent review clause with the amount or calculation method of the increase, or
• both parties agree in writing.

A vague clause like "rent may be increased from time to time" is not enough. If your fixed-term agreement does not have a qualifying rent review clause, you need to wait until the tenancy converts to periodic before issuing a valid 60-day notice.

What if I already gave 90 days notice?

If you gave more than 60 days you are fine. The law sets a minimum of 60 days, not a maximum. Any notice period longer than 60 days is valid; the tenant just has more warning than strictly required.

Where it matters is the opposite direction: if you gave less than 60 days (say you read an old article that said "30 days is fine") the notice is invalid, the tenant does not have to pay the increase, and you have to start again.

Boarding house tenancies

If the property is a boarding house tenancy (defined in section 66B RTA), the notice period is 28 days, not 60. Everything else is the same: written notice, once per 12 months, specified new rent and effective date. RentManager NZ applies the 28-day rule automatically when you mark the tenancy as a boarding house.

Practical checklist

1. Check when the tenant's rent was last increased. If less than 12 months ago, you cannot issue a new notice yet.
2. Write the notice (or use the Tenancy Services template) including address, current rent, new rent, and effective date.
3. Confirm the effective date is at least 60 days from the delivery date (28 days for boarding houses).
4. Deliver by email or hand delivery so you have a dated record. If you post it, add 7 working days for deemed delivery.
5. Keep a copy of the notice and the delivery evidence.
6. Update your rent ledger from the effective date.

Authoritative sources

• Tenancy Services - Rent increases (MBIE, the regulator)
• Residential Tenancies Act 1986, section 24 (legislation.govt.nz)
• Community Law Manual - Rent, bond and other costs

If any third-party blog or agency website tells you rent increase notice is 90 days in New Zealand, check section 24 directly and ignore the blog. Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators will not accept "but my property manager said 90 days" as a reason to uphold an otherwise valid but short-noticed increase - they will apply the Act.

RentManager NZ now enforces 60 days in the rent adjustment wizard and generates a compliant notice letter citing section 24 correctly. If you manage multiple properties and track rent increases by hand, the automatic date calculation alone saves hours of re-reading the Act every year.